Think.Do. Next.

Recent early morning play list from SirusXM...hmm,

2011-10-25T20:19:00.000-07:00

What a way to start the day: The Girls, Vomit Rancid, Fall Back Down and then to help me recover before class, The Vaccines, If You Wanna

Real people investing real money in other real people.

2011-10-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

I live in Iowa. I am not from Iowa, but it is my home. I've lived here longer than I've lived anywhere else, and I've come to love it. But, man, Iowans drive me nuts. Good smart people I know and love can't stop wringing their hands about how Iowans are too risk averse, too afraid to fail. That is unmitigated nonsense. I have recently participated in some terrific events featuring fabulous

I had to go to Steamboat Springs to discover Euforquestra

2010-03-19T15:38:00.000-07:00

Took a boys' trip to Steamboat Springs, CO, our favorite place to ski and ride. Feared it would be overrun by Des Moinesers, and they were everywhere. But big thanks to Dawn and Dylan for turning me on to Euforquestra, now out of Fort Collins, CO, but formerly from Iowa City, IA. Man, did they lay down a funky groove. Hot and steamy on St. Patty's Day Night at the Ghost Ranch Saloon. Miss

Startup Weekend Des Moines

2010-03-08T16:36:00.000-08:00

I like this shot from the recent Startup Weekend Des Moines, especially with Shane Rieser's caption: Tom Swartwood or Gordon Gekko?. A little greed is good. Thanks to @Jensenrf for the snap. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nesnej/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

A great pitch

2010-03-06T14:28:00.000-08:00

A student asked me what I meant by "succinct" when describing a good pitch. I responded "short & sweet." Like this: The little boy says simply "It will not break." Short & sweet, eh? Thanks to BoingBoing again

For age is opportunity no less...

2010-03-02T14:33:00.000-08:00

I tell all my students that they must consider opportunities to serve older generations. Marc Agronin, a geriatric psychiatrist, has a great piece in today's NY Times. He admonishes us to avoid a youthful myopic view of aging and to remember that wisdom and meaning come only with age. He sums up with this excerpt from Longfellow: For age is opportunity no less Than youth itself, though in

Color me convinced

2010-02-25T14:37:00.000-08:00

I sat in on a BizTactical session this morning, hosted by Doug Mitchell at Iowa EntreFest. Doug invited Adam Steen, 25 Connections (and Adam finally has a good intro for his own sales and marketing biz)and me to meet with Cathy Bormann to discuss her new business, Homestyles Staging and Redesign. Doug "broadcast" our session via UStream, a very cool live-streaming service. Cathy is impressive;

Entrepreneurial Freelancer

2009-08-10T17:06:00.000-07:00

I'm gearing up to teach again, and I am trying to swallow some of my own medicine serving as the Purser for a restart-up: the Jon Anderson White riverboat. I find Sharon McLoone's articles on the challenges small business people face helpful. She has a knack for demystifying things reminding entrepreneurs that they are not really alone. And she made me sound pretty smart too in her online

Riverboat Redux

2009-05-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

Mike LaValle, my good friend and hunting buddy, has restored his riverboat, and it is sailing the Des Moines River. Check out this video from local TV, KCCI. It was a real labor of love and stubbornness to get the newly christened John Anderson White ship shape. She's a beauty: mahogany trim outside, oak and gilded finishings inside, Mike led a shake down cruise yesterday. We departed from a

More good pitching

2009-04-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here is David Rose on pitching to VCs. He talks fast and covers a lot of ground. And yes he does not necessarily seem to follow his own advice, nor does he follow Guy Kawasaki's 10/20/30 rule. But get over it, he proffers good stuff; especially in the last 5 minutes. AND, he has the track record to back it up. I have attended dozens of investment conferences and met with many more

Good Pitch

2009-04-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

Here is an example of a good elevator pitch by a very energetic Kenny Lao, featured in a Forbes article and on MSNBC.msn.com. Mr. Lao, pitching a very cool sounding and cash-flow positive dumpling restaurant concept touches all the bases in this pitch, and he does in in 45 seconds. Watch and learn. The article is pretty good too.Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the

You can't Twitter Your Way to a Million Bucks...can you?

2009-04-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

Do you Twitter? Tweet? what ever the heck it is called, and even though it doesn't make any money yet, and even though they claim to have 6 million Twitterers (Tweeters, whatever...) it is still a new thing. I really didn't get it, and maybe I still don't , but lately a couple of successful local business people have explained to me how they are using it for bidness. They are not prattling on

The Uncommon Common Man

2009-04-08T21:00:00.000-07:00